Man City expert Steven McInerney tells Sports Mole that it is “very obvious” that Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov could complete a transfer to the Etihad Stadium in January.
Manchester City expert Steven McInerney from Esteemed Kompany has told Sports Mole that it is “very obvious” that Lens defender Abdukodir Khusanov could complete a transfer to the Etihad Stadium in January.
The Citizens are understood to have identified the 20-year-old as a potential target this month, with Pep Guardiola keen to bolster his defensive options due to the club’s injury issues in that department.
Ruben Dias, John Stones, Manuel Akanji and Nathan Ake have all suffered with injuries this season, and Man City have been without at least one of their four centre-back options during their torrid run of just three victories in 15 games across all competitions.
A recent report claims that Man City are considering accelerating plans to sign Uzbekistan international Khusanov this month and have been keeping tabs on the youngster ever since he enjoyed his breakthrough season at senior level in the Belarusian top flight with Energetik-BGU.
Khusanov’s agent has claimed that his client is ‘ready to play for the best clubs in Europe’ amid interest from clubs including Man City and Tottenham Hotspur.
Meanwhile, Lens CEO Pierre Dreossi has admitted that Khusanov is expected to leave the club, but they are yet to receive any acceptable offers for the defender, who is believed to be valued between £20m and £25m.
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Man City-linked Khusanov is a “really talented young player”
McInerney is not surprised to see reports linking Man City with Khusanov and has compared the youngster’s defensive style to both Ruben Dias and former Citizens man Nicolas Otamendi.
“The general consensus is that he’s a really, really talented young player. He’s raw as you’d expect from a 20-year-old Uzbeki centre-back, who’s playing for the first real season in the French league,” McInerney told Sports Mole. “He’s got a lot of improvement to make but the talent seems obvious.
“I like his aggression. He seems very Ruben Dias or [Nicolas] Otamendi-esque in terms of how the guy loves going to the floor, but he also loves defending.
“I like defenders who love defending. I know that sounds really obvious, but I swear some don’t. Some wait until the last minute and they sort of pass the responsibility on to someone else. Take accountability.
“I love a physical defender and he has that to him. He’s stupidly quick as well which is really good. A really good turn of pace.”
“It looks like City are interested in him because I think they’re aware that their defence is getting old,” McInerney added. “Stones is 30 going on 34 [and is injury prone]. Ake struggles as well. Akanji looks like he’s having struggles with his fitness as well right now. Dias is still the right age, but we’re leaning on certain players that aren’t reliable and I think City are already looking to the future.
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“I think Khusanov seems to be most comfortable as a right centre-back. He looks reasonably comfortable out wide as well. I wouldn’t be surprised if Guardiola was looking at someone like that and going ‘oh he could be a decent little cover at right-back every now and then’ with his physicality and his strength, like Kyle Walker – not quite the same physical freak (as Walker) but Guardiola thinks that way in general.”
McInerney feels that Man City’s “intention” is to adopt a similar approach to Brighton & Hove Albion by signing one of Europe’s most promising players before their price rises and they developed into a continental star.
Would Khusanov be a first-team regular for Guardiola?
However, McInerney has questioned whether Khusanov would be thrown straight into Guardiola’s first team on a regular basis during the second half of this season, should he make the move to the Etihad Stadium.
He said: “I think if Khusanov comes in, it will be very much as a squad player. I don’t think he’s destined to be a starter immediately because he’s got a lot of rough edges from what I can gather.
“His decision making isn’t perfect, even though he’s technically good. I think his passing still has a little bit to go to reach Manchester City’s levels, but there’s clear talent there.
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“I think City are probably trying to get in early as opposed to buying for £75m off someone two or three years from now. I think that’s the intention here to do the Brighton-esque signing early on as opposed to waiting for him to be worth £60m-£70m for somewhere else.
“Given the fact that Man City have got a collection of senior centre backs, [Jahmai] Simpson-Pusey and people like Callum Doyle out on loan, I think they’ll probably feel this is a decent time to [sign Khusanov] because they don’t have to lean on him and they can be patient with him.
“They want the support there, but they don’t need him to be available for every single game and I think that works for everyone.
“It’s a very specific [transfer] link. It’s very obvious that there is something to this, because I don’t think City would be linked to a name like Abdukodir Khusanov from Lens, who’s barely played any football, if there wasn’t something in this.
“When you see all the quotes from the agent and the managing director of the club, I think it’s very obvious that he could be at Manchester City by the time the transfer window closes.”
After making 11 Ligue 1 appearances in his debut campaign for Lens, Khusanov has since established himself as a first-team regular this term, starting 13 top-flight games and helping the French club keep seven clean sheets.
Press play on the video at the top of this article to hear the full discussion.
